


velveteen wings

by pinokitokyo



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:08:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28301379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinokitokyo/pseuds/pinokitokyo
Summary: They screamed at the sky like god herself was pulling them apart while dreaming of better days, sitting on the cold pavement after a long night, staring at the constellations in the sky, looking themselves in shattered mirrors, not knowing anything but their broken reflection and they got drunk from moonlight and sunsets like addicts from quaaludes and firewhiskey, breaking their bones, calling it a lesson and never stopping to take a breath.They were the heroes of their time, so take their hand and hold your tongue because this is a revolution and as all revolutions do, they burn in the night and fade in the sun.They were never meant to be legends.Icarus did a better job at being a lesson.
Relationships: Alice Longbottom/Frank Longbottom, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Marlene McKinnon/Dorcas Meadowes, Sirius Black/Marlene McKinnon, Sirius Black/Original Female Character(s), Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Kudos: 3





	1. prologue

"Do you know the story of Icarus?" she asked, handing him one of the cigarettes and putting the other one on her lips, the color reminded him of blood. The flash of the lighter illuminated their faces and he stood so close she could see the small birthmark under his left eye that usually went unnoticed. 

"No, I haven't," he said with a cloud of smoke coming out of his mouth and covering his face from her curious eyes for only a second. 

"It's about a boy who flew too high, only to crash and burn." She saw him watching out from the dirty train corridor window, the darkness made it impossible to see more than the silhouettes of the trees but the look on his face made her wonder if he even heard her. "It reminds me of you."

"How so?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her, seems that he was listening after all. 

"Because I know he wanted to fall and I can see it in your eyes that you're just waiting to crash and burn." A small smile took over her lips as she said it, she probably knew the boy's dysfunctions better than she knew hers. It has always been easier to find the flaws in someone else than yourself, but then again, he probably knew how to destroy her with only a snap of his fingers. 

"Are you going to send me spiraling down from the clouds?" he asked, hovering over her with a smirk blasted across his face, he knew what he was doing. 

"Do you want me to?" she whispered back and trailed her fingers up from his arm, all the way to his chin. 

"Yes." His eyes looked like a thunderstorm when he said that and she knew at that moment that he won't fall because he flew too close to the sun, he'll fall because he'll be chasing the lightning.

"Then just wait, I feel a storm coming." She smiled at him and started taking steps backward. "It was nice seeing you, Sirius."

"You too, Ophelia."


	2. september 1st

It's the first of September, 1978, and King's Cross station is bustling with people, some of them stand out more than others because of their rather strange fashion choices, a wavering robe combined with a pointed hat. Thought the owls hooting in their cages were the main thing that got people's attention, a quite strange pet, most of them would agree, but to people who ran through walls would consider it the least strange thing in their life. The other side of the wall was even more crowded if that was even possible. Students were rushing around, the crowds of voices sounded like bees gathered around their hive. It was almost impossible to make out different voices, all of them sounded like buzzing. There were a few louder screams from people who finally saw their friends after a long summer. A few tears were even pocketed by moms sending away their children. 

Ophelia was among the people who were trying to make their way to the train, sending excuse me's and sorry's to people whose toes got in her way. The maze of people was rather difficult to navigate and it didn't help that the 5th years that were up to her shoulders last year were now a head taller than her, tiptoeing wouldn't even make her the same height as them. 

"Remus!" she shouted as she saw a familiar mop of sandy hair trying to push his way through, just like her, eyes fixated on the closest train door. The boy turned his face to locate the voice and met the familiar eyes of Ophelia. He smiled and beelined his way. 

"Morning, Ophelia," he said as he got to stand in front of her. There was a briefcase in his left hand and numerous books, on the other hand, it looked like the stack could easily fall down at any given moment.

"Need help with that?" she asked, pointing at the books that clearly weren't part of the curriculum. 

"Sure," he said and handed her half of the books. Ophelia was taken back by the heaviness of the few books that he handed to her, which made her wonder how could he have carried all of them by himself. Perhaps the lanky looking boy is stronger than he let on. 

"So, what is this I'm hearing about Potter making Head Boy?" she asked as they started pushing their way through the crowd again. A few rumors were flying around, literally. Her owl had bought her several letters from fellow Slytherins who were complaining about the new Head Boy and she could easily see the reason they weren't fond of the idea. The boy, James Potter, has been a troublemaker ever since he entered the Hogwarts Express six years ago. He and his little group of friends, that also included Remus, were always up to some kind of trouble and Ophelia could name three people off the top of her head that deserved the title Head Boy more than the person who spiked the Halloween Feast with laxatives. One of them was definitely Remus, although often involved in these silly pranks, he still had some common sense left in him. 

"Believe me, I was just as surprised, but to be honest, I feel like a proud dad," he said, a small smile lingered on his lips. It seemed irrational to make James Potter the Head Boy, but it seemed to be exactly something that Dumbledore would do. He just wondered what was the reason for it because there had to be another side to this that he couldn't quite make out, at least not yet.

"I still think that you should've gotten the Head Boy title." She rolled her eyes. It was clear that Remus was too humble for his own good, the boy deserved way more than he got, but he clearly didn't seem to mind.

"That's sweet, but I'm completely fine with my Prefect title." He smiled and opened the train car door for Ophelia before going inside after her. 

"But still, he doesn't need to be Head Boy and Quidditch Team Captain at the same time, like what did he do to deserve this? Sleep with Dumbledore?" Ophelia ranted as a look of pure annoyance took over her face. She had been made Quidditch Team Captain only this year, but James had been one since 5th year, the idea that James was a few steps in front of her made her want to barf and throw a bulger his way, hoping he'd end up with brain damage. Remus just laughed at that and shook his head.

"Which reminds me, congratulations on becoming Quidditch Team Captain!" Remus shouted and let out a small whistle that caught some people's attention. Ophelia shoved him slightly because of that, but nevertheless, a small smile still on her lips.

"Thanks."

"Well, this is my stop." They now stood in front of the compartment that he had shared with the three other Marauders since his first time on Hogwarts Express. No one knew, but they had carved their names under the seats to mark it as their own. They even had their own place to sit inside the compartment, Remus was always on the right side next to the window and when Ophelia looked through the glass doors, she saw that it was the only open seat. On the other side was Sirius who was leaning against the dirty train window, he looked at her and sent a lazy wink her way, his signature smirk blasted across his lips. Ophelia just shook her head at that, the boy clearly had never learned the definition of subtlety. Next to that little flirt was Peter who was occupied with digging into the homemade sandwich that his mom had made, not the best of sandwiches in the world but they helped him with homesickness that still occasionally kicked in, even though he was already in his last years, and in front of him was the one and only James. His Head Boy badge was already proudly presented on his red and gold Gryffindor sweater, but there was no sight of the Quidditch Captain badge. It made her wonder if he just hadn't bothered to put it on or if there a new captain. After quickly scanning the compartment, her eyes landed on Remus once again.

"Guess I'll see you later," she said and handed the books back to the boy, as she turned to leave her eyes caught Sirius' for a quick moment before turning around and heading to the Slytherins that were most likely occupying the very last train car.

''Sure will," he shouted after her and slid the compartment door open. He was immediately greeted by his best friends as he took his place next to the window.

"Look who it is!" was the first thing Ophelia heard when she entered the car, there were no compartments here, just tables surrounded by chairs. Ophelia has always preferred this car over all the others, it was way more spacious and didn't make her feel as stuck as the tight compartments that usually had way too many people in there.

"Isn't that our new Quidditch Captain," Regulus said. Most of the last year's Quidditch Team was gathered around the last two tables. Ophelia went and sat down across from Regulus and next to Marlene.

"What's more surprising, Rosier making Quidditch Captain or Potter making Head Boy?" Rabastan Lestrange, last year's beater, asked from the other table. He was wearing a charming smile and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Scared you won't make the team this year?" Ophelia asked him, but he didn't even seem to be phased by it. 

"Oh please, do you even believe that?" The cockiness in his voice was clear, but not having that boy in their team would be a significant loss for the whole Slytherin team and he seemed to know it as well as anyone else, though his ego needed to be beaten down a bit. 

"Try making the team when I put "not being an insufferable cunt" as one of the requirements for making the team," Ophelia said and watched as both of the tables burst out laughing. If an outsider had come across this scene, then they would probably describe it as bullying, but that's the way things are in Slytherin. The casual rudeness that ofter overtook their vocabulary when talking to each other has always been a daily thing. Like McGonagall said on their first day, the house they're sorted into becomes their family and although you won't see the people with silver and green ties being sappy or crying on each other's shoulders, at least not in public, it doesn't mean that they lack the deep emotions other houses wear like a badge of honor. 

Their love language is a bit different, it's the silent type that you won't see from across the room or wouldn't even think was a sign of adoration. It's the way the Prefects always make sure there are enough blankets in the dungeons because the place might get chilly during winter and it's the way there is always someone in the Common Room during 1st of September because the tears on first years' faces won't wipe themselves. The yearly occurrence that was caused by the bad reputation of the Slytherin house has only made everyone belonging to the house even closer. They have heard the words "bad house" and "dark magic" combined with "Slytherin" in a sentence one too many times and it's often engraved in the first years' minds that Slytherin is the house you don't want to end up in, especially in times like these. That's also the reason for all those tears on the Slytherin Common Room's dark wooden floor and it was Ophelia's turn to make sure that they get wiped.

After the sorting and the feast, Ophelia was one of the last people in the Great Hall. The buzzing chatter that had overtaken the room a few hours ago was long gone and the floating candles that decorated the dark enchanted ceiling were almost burned out. There was slight shuffling behind her and when turning around she saw the house-elves cleaning up the mess that the feast had left, dirty plates and leftovers disappeared with only a snap of the elf's bony finger. 

"Miss Rosier, if I'm not mistaken, then you will be in my class tomorrow morning." Ophelia recognized the voice of Professor McGonagall who looked at her with her slightly elevated brows. "Wouldn't want you to be late."

"Of course not, Professor," she answered, sending a polite smile her way as she stood up to gather her things that were scattered over the table. The Professor nodded her head and turned to leave, her chestnut brown dress trailing behind her while the click of her heels echoed back from the almost empty room. The teachers' table now had only two people left, Dumbledore and Slughorn, they seemed to be in a rather deep conversation, probably about something ridiculous. The two of them had the ability to make even dragon pox an interesting topic. 

Ophelia turned her gaze away from the teachers and she headed out, the possible topics of the two Professors still floating in the back of her mind. As hilarious as it wouldn't be to think that they were discussing the possible cures for dragon pox, there were more serious topics, like a dark wizard and an order of a blazing firebird. The second one being unknown to Ophelia and the first one being too familiar for her liking.


	3. september 12th

It's the second week of classes and it has been exactly three weeks since Ophelia found out that she's the Quidditch Team's Captain. She still remembers the little velvety green box that the Hogwart's owl delivered to her with her letter and the soft silvery inside where the badge sat in, looking all sorts of elegant and sparkling like it was under a spell. She also remembers the confusion that came with it, Lestrange had spent the last year preaching about how he'll be the next Captain, and finding out that she will be taking the position instead was rather shocking. She still wasn't exactly sure what her parents thought of it, the title comes with its' privileges, but they never thought Quidditch to be a ladylike game to play, and her muddy Quidditch robes with more than a few tears were there to prove it. Considering the odd choice of Head Boy this year, it was clear that something was going on and she'll make sure to find out what.

Right now she was standing in the middle of the Quidditch field that had Slytherins flying in circles above her, warming up for the tryouts. She could spot flashes of green and silver from the corner of her eye as she read through the sign-up letter that had everyone's names in it. More than a few of them had been in last year's team and probably will be making the team this year, too. In fact, last year they had a dream team, but almost half of them graduated and now the team was left with numerous empty spots, that needed filling. 

She put her fingers to her lips and let out a piercing whistle that grabbed the group's attention, signaling them to lower their brooms. A bunch of green and silver robes were now gathered in front of Ophelia in a half-circle, quite chatter taking life as they waited for instructions from her. 

"Like most of you know, the fact that you were in the team last year doesn't guarantee a place in this year's team, everyone will give their best effort and compete as equals," she said, her voice loud and clear, but that wasn't a match for the open field that made her voice feel small. The announcement was met with silence and a few enthusiastic nods from a pair of boys that she recognized as second years. "Three teams and three rounds, everyone better show their best kicks and hits."

She made sure to divide up experienced players, she didn't need them to take over the team and push others to the sidelines. After teaming everyone up, she took out the little vests, blue, red, and yellow, one color for each team. 

"Here you go, Ravenclaws, Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs," she said, handing each team their colors, numerous groans were met with that.

"You must be kidding me. Gryffindors?" Lestrange said, holding up his red vest with pure disgust, brows furrowed. Ophelia let out a laugh at the grimace that overtook the boy's face. He looked like he had just swallowed a dung bomb. 

"Calm down my brave Gryffindor, it's just a color." She rolled her eyes and told the first two teams to overtake the field while the last team gets seated on the stands with the other Slytherins who had come to watch the tryouts. Ophelia mounted her broom like the others and flew high above, to get a view of everyone on the field, watching them like a hawk. 

Finally, when the last two teams were up against each other and after that, they could call it a day. She had now taken a position on one of the stands to get a more stable and detailed point of view, standing a bit further from the rest of the people on top of one of the benches with a stern look on her face, her mind going a thousand kilometers a minute, observing the players individually and how they worked together. If there was one thing that she wanted in the team then it was harmony, she had seen how it turned out when you put together two people that can't stand each other. No matter how good players they are, it isn't gonna work out, it's just gonna be an endless competition of outdoing each other and she really didn't have any time for that.

She was sternly looking at the match before him when she saw a flash followed by a whisper ''confondo'' as the keeper was swept away from the goal post giving the opposite team a chance to score a goal, which they did.

The spell that she just heard made her blood boil, but no wonder that a Slytherin would pull something like that. She has seen it before and it has never turned out the way it was intended, she was tired of the fact that people would still try it.

She mounted her broom and hovered a bit higher from the stand, cutting short the other team's shouts with a loud whistle. ''Team yellow wins this round.''

''Yellow?'' The keeper of the other team rises his voice, ''we scored the last goal and had more points than yellow, what do you mean they won?''

''Let me remind you all that you can't use magic to win a match and I don't want anyone in my team who tries to pull shit like that. So, if none of you are gonna confess to having one of your friends cast a spell towards the other team's keeper then no one from blue will make it to the team, I'll make sure of that.'' An uncomfortable silence endured for a while, Ophelia looked into the eyes of every team blue even though she already knew who was behind this.

''Avery, I honestly expected more from you.'' She let out a sigh, it was not hard to guess who was behind this, the girl on the bench was Avery's girlfriend and it wasn't that difficult to put the two together, ''you would've let the whole team suffer because of the mistake your girlfriend made, and you dare call yourself a Slytherin.''

''Take your girl and in the name of Merlin get off this field.'' Everyone else watched in silence as Avery tried to stare down at Ophelia, his eyes filled with rage but he lowered his broom and walked off the field without another word,'' everyone else, get down.''

The tension was still in the air as they got off their brooms and gathered around. ''All of you did great, some of you obviously better than others. I'll have the results up in the common room on Monday and I expect all of the people who made it to the team to show up to practice the same day after class at 3. You're all free, go enjoy the rest of your Sunday.''

The field cleared out quickly as everyone wanted to get out of the rathe awkward situation and the stands were free of people soon after. Ophelia made sure that all the supplies were there and took them back to the Quidditch room, making her way back to the common room full of people. She could hear some whispers of the tryouts, but she didn't need to pay any mind to it, heading straight to the girls' dormitory to put together the new Slytherin quidditch team.


	4. september 14th

Ophelia had neatly written down the new Slytherin Quidditch Team members and posted it on the wall of the common room late at night when everyone was already asleep. She looked over the paper once more, knowing that she got the best team possible. 

The next day a few younger students came up to her, thanking her for taking them into the team. Lestrange had a cocky smile on his face and Regulus only said knew it when he passed her in the hallway. After class, she headed to her dormitory to change into her green and silver Quidditch robes, she eyed little cuts on the robes, making a mental note to fix them later, and made her way to the field. As the captain, she liked to be ready before the rest of the team, she sees that as a must, but before she was even on the field, she could already hear shouting coming from the field. At first, she couldn't even recognize the voices, they were all mixed together, shouting over each other, but the closer she got the more anger rose in her, the first training and it seemed to be already headed downhill.

"Black, what are you doing here?" she asked when the mop of black hair came into her view, her voice overtook the field and eyes snapped to her. 

"Well, as the new captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, I'm here to train my team," he answered, voice all posh and full of fake politeness, like his family had taught him. Seems that some things did stick to him from his childhood. 

"No, it's my team's time to practice!" She stomped over to him, clutching the broom in her right hand until her knuckles turned white. All she could see was red, her anger mixed with Gryffindor Team uniforms. 

"You could've at least congratulated me for making Team Captain," he said and put his hand on top of his chest, right over the place his cold heart laid, but Ophelia couldn't care less about the fact that Sirius was now a captain. 

"Shut your dirty mouth and get going," she said, trying to control her voice as she now stood right in front of the boy.

"No." His grin widened from ear to ear, if she could, she would slap it right off his face and store it in a jar to sell on the black market. 

"I booked the field first."

"No."

"You can't just keep saying no, I literally booked the field first."

"No, I did."

"Want me to go to Hooch right now and put you in your place?" She smirked a bit, her nerves calming down and she finally got control over her anger as she loosened her grip on the broom.

"Oh, you know I love it when you put me on my place," he smiled, his silly grin widening as a few snickers were heard from the Gryffindor Team. 

"Sirius, shut the fuck up." Her voice was low and a fire burned in her eyes that could set the whole field on fire. As she glared at the boy, the rest of her team showed up behind her, just as confused as her and possibly even angrier. Slytherins were known for being cool, calm, and collected, but the red tones of the Gryffindors made them act like out of control bulls. 

"What's going on here?" Regulus came up from behind her and the two Black brothers glared at each other. 

"Your brother is acting like a real cunt right now," Ophelia said, her mind trying to figure out how to come out of this situation as a winner, but not finding any as Sirius' stubbornness made her go mad. There were only a few people in Hogwarts who could go against her like that, and he was definitely one of them.

"Calm down, darling, I just came here to train."

"It's my team's time."

"I mean, I can get a letter from McGonagall with the words "Gryffindor team is allowed to practice on the Quidditch Field Mondays after class"" Sirius said, eyebrows raised to the point they got lost inside his curls.

"Let's just share the field." Regulus rolled his eyes, knowing better than anyone that there's no use in fighting with his brother. 

"And share tactics? No way."

"Oh you'd be lucky if you got ahold of our tactics, we did win last year's Quidditch Cup." Lestrange appeared now from behind them and arrogantly hovered over the boy who was slightly shorter than him. 

"Screw you, Lestrange." Sirius' whole posture changed and he grabbed his broom from the ground, stoping away, "we're taking the right side."

''Better luck this year!'' Both teams parted their ways, one on the right side and the other on the left. Ophelia threw the case that contained the quidditch balls on the ground and opened it up, ''everyone, get up and take your position. I'm gonna release the balls on five''

The first practice of the year is always the hardest, by the time it had ended everyone's face were red with sweat dripping from their foreheads. ''Okay, everyone is free! It was a great practice, seeing some improvements already. Next practice is on Wednesday and I'm gonna share some tactics so don't even think about missing it, because you won't find an excuse good enough to justify your absence.''

With that everyone started making their way out of the field just as the Gryffindors lowered themselves to the ground, ending their practice, too. The whole two hours were not only exhausting but on top of that annoying, hearing the Gryffindors, mainly Black, shouting every chance they got was more draining than the practice itself. It was safe to say that Slytherins never wanted to hear his voice again. Still slightly pissed off about their actions, Ophelia walked over to the rival team when they started to scatter away, standing in front of their team's Captain with hands on her hips.

''I think we have something to discuss that involves me, you, and Hooch.''

''Go ahead try to prove me wrong,'' he smiled cockily and they started walking towards the school.

''What the bloody hell do you mean they booked the field first? I was the first one to fill in the schedule and it was all free.'' Ophelia tried to remind Hooch, who was looking at her like she was losing her mind, "I put Monday and Wednesday after class and Saturday noon, don't you remember?''

''Sadly, my dear, I have no recollection of that.'' Hooch gave her a confused look.

''Is this some kind of a sick joke? I'm over it, give me my scheduled field time." She could feel the anger rising inside her again, growing like a fiery ball. She would've thought that by the time Sirius got to the graduating class, that he would give up on his pranks. The shit that he pulled with her little group of friends was something to snicker at over dinner, but at this point, it was getting frustrating. 

''Can't you see? It's actually our field time.'' The mockery in his eyes was as clear as day when he said that.

''You can just book some other day since I need Mondays after class." The stubbornness of the Gryffindor was beyond frustrating.

''You know, some of us need to actually study.'' She kept her voice low, trying to slither out of the situation.

''Take Monday evening then, after us.''

''Don't you dare drop evening practices on us, you dumb wit.''

''Language, miss Rosier!'' Hooch interrupted the two's argument, but she didn't even listen to the professor.

''You have no respect towards others, you selfish twat!'' She pointed her finger at him threateningly. 

''Miss Rosier!'' Her voice was stern as she stood up from her chair and leaned closer to them, but Ophelia paid no mind to that as she turned to leave the room without looking at either of them. Her blood was boiling but she didn't see a point in arguing with them anymore since Black was stubborn and clearly had all of this well planned out, most likely he didn't do it alone. This left her with an extremely difficult choice since everyone had already chosen their practice time and her team would be left with the last and worst choices that clearly no one would want to burden their teams with. That made her feel like she had already failed her team. Only one week back and there was already some shit going on.

''The way I see it, we have three options.'' She headed straight to the common room and gathered the team since they should get a say in it because but the options weren't exactly good, "we either have one evening practice, double our time on Saturdays, or make Sunday a practice day.''

''No way I'm taking an evening practice, you won't ever be able to see the bulger coming your way in that darkness.''

''And giving up Hogsmeade trips is out of the question.''

''Double time on Saturdays is going to give us muscle pain for a whole week.''

''I know as of right now there is no good option, but I think it's safe to say that doubling our time on Saturdays will probably work the best and over time we will get used to it because as of right now there is nothing else for me to offer,'' Ophelia explained to the team who was seated in front of her. None of them looked pleased with it, especially Regulus, his face was sourer than usual.

''How did they schedule the Monday though?''

''Honestly, I have no idea and even Hooch said that she couldn't remember me scheduling the practices so I don't know." Ophelia sighed, "probably one of their stupid pranks.''

''Are you sure that you actually scheduled?''

''Yes, I'm sure, the rest of the scheduled times were still there," she explained, slightly hurt because her them questioned here even though they had every right to, "anyway, I'm gonna think of something to get those halfwits back and maybe recover out scheduled times along the way."

"We're gonna demolish them in November and then they'll realize that they shouldn't mess with us," Regulus said, giving Ophelia a nod. They got a few encouraging claps from the team and soon they parted their ways, some went to the dormitory and others stayed to hang around in the common room, while Ophelia made her way back to professor Hooch's office, to apologize and also put down their new practice time.


	5. september 17th

Ophelia had made her way to the astronomy tower to get some peace and quiet. The whole dormitory was filled with annoying chatter that made her brain completely shut down as the stress of the year was starting to set in. Every class had begun with the formal introduction to N.E.W.T-s and everything they had to learn to get an O, with an attempt to scare them into studying day and night.

So now she was leaning against the astronomy tower's wall, the coldness of the stone sending shivers down her spine as she looked out into the distance that was pitch black. Her eyes could only focus on the sparkling stars above, and she stared at them, trying to make out constellations that she had crammed into her head the night before their Astronomy test one day in the fifth year. It seems like a lifetime ago and the thought of having only one year in Hogwarts left slightly terrified her, but she wasn't left alone with the thoughts for too long.

''Look who we've got here, Miss Rosier.'' Ophelia heard a voice behind her, forcefully pulling herself from her thoughts. Without having to turn around, she knew who it was, his loud laughter and obnoxious can often be heard above all of the chatter in the Great hall as his need for attention exceeded the norm.

''Black, what a surprise,'' she said, ''here to throw yourself off the tower?''

''Not really on top of my to-do list, just here for a smoke,'' he said and took his hands out of his pockets, revealing a cigarette pack. ''Do you mind?''

''Be my guest, I guess,'' she said, not taking her eyes off the inky black sky. Sirius leaned on the opposite side of the arc and offered a cigarette to her, which she gladly took. Both of them were slightly trembling because of the cold September air that was blowing through the tower, while neither of them said another word for a while and just looked at the darkness in front of them, not wanting to break the silence around them. It wasn't the kind of comfortable silence that would surround one if they were to be with their friends, but neither was it the uncomfortable silence that suffocated one when they were with a stranger. It was somewhere in between, the same way their relationship was somewhere in between, an uncharted territory, a gray area.

Ophelia looked up at the sky where stars were twinkling. ''Do you know which one of these is Sirius?'' she asked in a low voice, not daring to completely shatter the quiet atmosphere.

''The fact that my name is Sirius doesn't mean that I have to know where the star is,'' he laughed, taking a blow from his cigarette. His lungs filled with smoke and she could sense the blackness of his organs. She imagined his body crumbling to dust at the slightest touch of his skin, maybe every swirl of wind took a speck of him, throwing it to the sky.

''A weird way to rebel against your family?'' she asked and raised an eyebrow because she knew exactly where that specific star laid. One night Regulus had introduced her entire family through the lens of the telescope, though she couldn't even remember most of them, only Regulus in the Leo constellation and Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, maybe if she stared at the sky long enough, she could even find Andromeda, she loved the fact that they could see a whole other galaxy with a naked eye.

''Maybe, but also, I couldn't care less about Astronomy,'' he shrugged but his eyes were also fixed on the night sky, even he didn't deny the beauty of the stars, but his family has tainted their spark. They aren't just stars anymore to him, Arcturus isn't the brightest star in the constellation of Boötes, to him, it's his grandfather looking down on him and he could swear that whenever he spotted the star accidentally, it held a green glow that none of the other stars had, while Bellatrix looked wild like she'd want to jump out from the sky and turn into a falling star. He couldn't exactly describe the feeling that blossomed inside him when he looked up at the night sky, somewhere between deep hatred and rich comfort. One of his many paradoxical feelings that followed him around, when it came to his family. 

If they were standing face to face, then maybe Ophelia could even tell that he was lying, or see that his eyes were searching for the Leo constellation. He sometimes found himself searching the night sky for his relatives, though only the ones he deemed worthy of knowledge, for example, Andromeda and Alphard. He refused to acknowledge others, and he couldn't pass his Astronomy test with the few stars and constellations that didn't taste like charcoal on his tongue, but the thing is, he knew every single constellation and start, that held the name of a Black because when he was around seven, he had to learn them all. He still remembers the nights her mom made him sit outside on the steps of 12 Grimmauld Place and look up at the sky until he could pick out every Black, say how they're related, and name their role in the family. The thought of saying "Sirius, future Heir of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, from the constellation Canis Major, the brightest star in the night sky," made him want to bury himself alive. 

''It's actually not that hard to find, Regulus showed it to me once,'' she said, her eyes fixed on the star. Sirius fidgeted slightly at the mention of his brother's name and Ophelia noticed it from the corner of her eye. 

''How is he?'' he asked, tearing his eyes away from the sky and looked at the girl. His voice was small, and she could easily sense how uncomfortable he was, just from his voice. His whole posture changed, made him seem insignificant. The arrogant aura that he had when strutting around the halls of Hogwarts suddenly gone and now he was just Sirius, under the covers of his bed, waiting for the shouting to stop.

''Are you being polite or do you actually care?'' she asked and turned to face him fully with her hands crossed over her chest. Ophelia knew the way the Black family left each other with scars and bruises, sometimes not even on purpose, they were just used to the dysfunctional way their family worked and they didn't know any better, but Ophelia didn't want to give him a way to their Regulus, not even on accident.

''He's my little brother, of course, I care,'' he said, slight anger laced through his words.

''Of course, except you don't talk to him or write to him. You know your parents better than anyone but you still refuse to check up on him,'' she said, but Sirius's gaze stayed on the night sky, he couldn't even make eye contact with her. ''You could at least defend yourself and give me a reason to believe that you're not as heartless as you seem.''

But still, no words left his lips as he found Regulus in the black pool above him. He wanted to imagine all the things he could say to him, but there didn't seem to be any words that could describe the way he was feeling, has felt for years. 

It was clear that Sirius won't answer her so she continued: ''you know, on the very first day back I had to calm down a little girl in the common room, she was crying because she thought that she was evil and that kind of thing happens every year. I still remember how Regulus bawled his eyes out on the first day because you had told him that Slytherins are evil.''

Sirius felt sadness take over his body, starting from his chest and running down his spine, all the way to the tip of his toes. He had never wanted to make Regulus cry, he just wanted Regulus to end up in Gryffindor or literally any house other than Slytherin. He was almost certain that the Sorting Hat wouldn't place Regulusin the snake house because it was his brother that he grew up with and he knew that there was not one ounce of darkness in him, but his world came crashing down when the Sorting Hat proudly announced Slytherin to the whole school and his night was no different from Regulus's night.

''And when I found out from him that you had left, back in sixth grade, the hurt in his eyes physically hurt me,'' she said, still sternly looking at the boy. She wanted him to look at her, his eyes were always the thing that betrayed the way he felt, but it seems that he has grown aware of that fact and looked everywhere except at her.

''I told him to come,'' he muttered, his voice barely audible and lips forming a pout, like a little child, that got asked why they left crayon scribbles on the wall.

''What?''

''The night I left, I told him to come with me.''

''You knew he couldn't.''

''But I still hope he would.''

''Maybe you should stop pretending that you don't miss him and just go talk to him.'' Her eyes softened, please just look at me.

''He would never forgive me after everything that I've done.'' He finally looked up and his grey eyes met her brown ones. His pupils were dilated in a way that made it almost impossible to see the hazy color of his eyes. 

''For once, have a little faith in him.'' And with that, she stubbed her cigarette out against the wall and walked away without sparing another glance at the boy. On her way back she found a little note in her pocket that read ''room of requirements 20:00 ;)''

''Bastard,'' she whispered and stuffed the note back into her pocket with a little smile.


End file.
